In May 2022, Bradford Opportunity Area and Exceed Teaching School Hub invited Bradford schools and partnerships to apply to benefit from the Instructional Coaching Offer (see below). On the 24th May 2022, 39 teachers representing 101 schools were invited to access the offer.

This webpage provides resources and references that schools considering or implementing instructional coaching for teacher development may benefit from.

What is instructional coaching? (Peps McCrea via Twitter)

The research (Sam Sims via Twitter)

Instructional coaching implementation (Josh Goodrich via Twitter)

Implementation challenges (Josh Goodrich via Twitter)

Implementing and refining deliberate practice: handbook (Ambition Institute)

Teacher practice outside the classroom (Peps McCrea via Twitter)

Early Years and Key Stage 1 coaching (Josh Goodrich via Twitter)

Instructional coaching: The researcher's perspective (Steplab via YouTube)

Instructional coaching: the lead coach perspective (Steplab via YouTube)

Instructional coaching: the senior leader perspective (Steplab via YouTube)

 

 

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Instructional Coaching Offer (Applications closed 20th May 2022)

SORRY, THIS OFFER IS ONLY AVAILABLE TO BRADFORD SCHOOLS.

Bradford Opportunity Area (BOA) has allocated grant funding to develop sustainable capacity in schools, trusts, and partnerships of schools that positively impact on social mobility. In this instance, the focus is to help ensure the BOA investment in programmes over the last five years has a positive impact at classroom level.

Instructional coaching - coaching to improve teaching - is the form of teacher development with the most robust evidence base for impact. Therefore, via Exceed Teaching School Hub, BOA is investing in building capacity that will impact positively in schools whilst also investing in developing a team of expert teachers who could support other teachers and leaders within and beyond their own school/trust.

We are inviting up to 39:

• school partnerships (e.g. a trust or a local area partnership (LAP) of about 5 schools), or
• an individual school

to apply for one place on our Intensive Instructional Coaching Programme (IICP). This will develop an instructional coaching expert teacher for the school or partnership. In time, the expert teacher will support a group of teachers from across the school or partnership via a Professional Learning Community (PLC) (or network). The PLC would focus on an agreed common school improvement priority - such as assessment for learning, cognitive science, or Early Career Framework - as a vehicle to develop instructional coaching expertise and practice.

NB School partnership will be favoured as they will extend the reach of the investment to more schools.

Our instructional coaching offer has five elements:

• Implementation support from Bradford Research School to help the partnership to consider how it will be addressing an agreed common priority via building instructional coaching capacity
• The Intensive Instructional Coaching Programme to build expertise led by Ambition Institute
• Walkthrus to provide tools for the expert teacher is draw upon
• Keynote presentations during the year to extend learning by introducing new ideas, and
• A partnership or school led Professional Learning Community (PLC) for disseminating the expert teacher's learning to peers

EXAMPLE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES (PLC)

Example 1

A highly-skilled (expert) teacher with little experience in instructional coaching is registered to access the Intensive Instructional Coaching programme for a partnership (e.g. multi-academy trust or local area partnership) of 5 schools. The expert teacher accesses training and support via the programme during the autumn term 2022. In January 2023, the expert teacher establishes a PLC, or network meeting, for mentors of early career teachers from each of the partnership schools. They meet from 1.00pm to 2:30pm once per half-term for the next 12 months. Their initial focus is agreed - they wish to enhance the mentor training they are receiving through the Early Career Teachers’ Programme. They use the time together to review research, and the ECT Programme requirements, and to create a plan for strengthening their mentor role even further. The expert teacher facilities the meetings, drawing upon the learning from the Intensive Instructional Coaching Programme to share their newly developed expertise, develop mentor confidence in using weekly instructional coaching with their ECT, and explore techniques mentors may encourage ECTs to adopt using the WALKTHRU resources.

Example 2

A highly skilled (expert) teacher with an awareness of instructional coaching is registered to access the Intensive Instructional Coaching Programme for their secondary school that is applying individually for the Instructional Coaching Offer. The expert teacher accesses training and support via the programme during the autumn term 2022. In January 2023, the expert teacher establishes a PLC, or network meeting, for subject leaders in five departments in their schools. They meet from 3:00pm to 4pm once per half-term for the next 12 months. Their initial focus is agreed - they wish to enhance departmental level support for embedding strategies for managing students' cognitive load. They use the time together to review research and the WALKTHRU resources. The expert teacher facilities the meetings, drawing upon the learning from the Intensive Instructional Coaching Programme to share their newly developed expertise, and build the subject leaders’ confidence in using instructional coaching to embed the cognitive load strategies with all teachers in their department.

Example 3

A highly skilled (expert) teacher with an awareness of instructional coaching is registered to access the Intensive Instructional Coaching Programme for their partnership (trust). The expert teacher accesses training and support via the programme during the autumn term 2022. In January 2023, the expert teacher establishes a PLC, or network meeting, for teaching and learning leaders across their trust's four schools. They work 1:1 with the teaching and learning leader from school A, and meet from 3:00pm to 4pm twice per half-term for one term. Their initial focus is agreed - they wish to enhance the mentor training they are receiving through the Early Career Teachers’ Programme. They use the time together to review research, and the ECT Programme requirements, and to create a plan for strengthening their mentor role even further. The expert teacher facilities the meetings, drawing upon the learning from the Intensive Instructional Coaching Programme to share their newly developed expertise, develop mentor confidence in using weekly instructional coaching with their ECT, and explore techniques mentors may encourage ECTs to adopt using the WALKTHRU resources. After one term, the expert teacher supports school B’s teaching and learning leader with the same level of support. This is repeated each term with a new school.

In December 2021, the Department for Education (DfE) published their response to the ITT market review consultation. The presentation, below, focuses on the aspects of teacher development featured in the report (rather than quality assurance, assessment of trainees, etc).

Click the square icon below the slides to view them in full-screen mode.

 

Downloads:

• Main PowerPoint presentation
• National Professional Qualifications

Quick links:

• National Professional Qualifications
• Register for the Early Career Teachers programme
• Appropriate Body service information
• Register on NQT Manager for the Appropriate Body service (school not on list? Email us tshub@exceedacademiestrust.co.uk)
• Culture and Coaching Offer
• Newsletter

Need an introduction to the Early Career Teachers programme? Watch the recording of our May 2021 TDN LIVE! event.

Here are the resources discussed and shared with schools during the 19th May 2021 TDN LIVE! event. A recording of the event is available below: 

Bradford has seen the early roll out of the Early Career Framework ahead of it becoming a legal entitlement to all NQTs from September 2021. So, what have we learnt so far and how does it put us ahead of the game?

Teachers from across Exceed Academies Trust schools have written blogs about education research and evidence-informed practice and linked these to their own classrooms.

Education is experiencing extensive reforms of teacher development programmes. With the announcement of a government-funded Institute of Teaching the landscape of change can be seen for a period much longer than just the current academic year.